Monday, 26 July 2010

One of the more pleasurable duties I have as CAMRA Branch Chairman is to present the odd award. Yesterday it was the big one- a Pub of the Year Award - to the Ashton Arms in Oldham.

It is not though this estimable pub I write about, but two of the beers on offer, both from Little Ale Cart in Sheffield. First up was a 4.3% pale and hoppy number called either Sir or Saint Gatian. (I should have taken a photo). This was beautifully pale, with delicate but firm hopping and a very floral, perfume aroma. This was so popular it was drank dry in no time at all, to be replaced, fortuitously as I arrived at the bar for a refill, by Tranquil at 4.1% from the same brewery. Again pale and hoppy, it had a more resinous, in your face kind of bitterness, a lovely firm body and a bitter, hoppy finish. Both were in the tip top condition you'd expect from a pub of the year, making the experience even better. These are what Gazza P would call Mid Atlantic Pale Ales.

For those that know about them, Little Ale Cart has been producing lovely hoppy beers for a while now. For those that don't, seek them out.

Ale Cart beers vary, IMO, between good and superb. I must, however, declare an interest in that we brew Steel City in the LAC brewery... but let's say there's plenty of mutual admiration of each other's beers!

Welcome

A bit of a CV. Tandleman is a veteran beer lover, local CAMRA Chairman and activist, beer writer, beer reviewer and pursuer of all things good in beer. He lives in the North West of England and London. Despite his CAMRA membership, he does not limit himself to cask conditioned beer, though he believes that cask conditioning, when done correctly and appropriately, brings a quality to beer that is hard to equal by any other kind of presentation. He is a strong supporter of Northern methods of beer dispense and avidly detests poorly presented beer and dislikes pasteurisation. He regularly visits Germany, has conducted corporate British and German beer tastings for CAMRA at the Great British Beer Festival where he has worked for years on Biere Sans Frontieres and was Deputy Organiser at CAMRA's very successful National Winter Ales Festival in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and at the Manchester Beer and Cider Festival from 2013 to date. He admires good brewers wherever they are and has travelled extensively in pursuit of good beer to drink.

This blog mentions specifics; pubs and beer, good and bad. The opinions will be forthright, but you can always disagree, just don't be offended. Comments from those mentioned are particularly welcome and a right of reply is hereby offered.

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